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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Guest Race Report: Tough Mudder Michigan 2013

Geoff Rook: One Tough Mudder

[We interrupt the
program in progress (my Northwest Tour saga) for breaking news. One of my
favorite guest bloggers and running partners, Geoff Rook (remember his Boston Marathon post), did the Tough Mudder race. Now, I
have mentioned before that I have never done a “mud run” type event, but that
does not mean I am not interested. (Actually I think it means I am chicken, but
that is a topic for another discussion) Geoff generously agreed to report on
his experience. So, without further adieu, Geoff’s report:]

Tough Mudder is appropriately named. It is tough and you will get muddy. Very muddy, and very
wet, and a little scraped up if you challenge yourself and push hard. I
completed the Tough Mudder in Brooklyn, MI in June 2013 in about 2 hours 30
minutes. It consists of 12 miles of running with 20 obstacles spaced out along
the course.

The obstacles have foreboding names such as Arctic Enema [Ewwwww!!], Funky Monkey, and ElectricEel. A group of ten of us from the office decided it was too tempting of a
challenge and we put a team together. The event drew a crowd of about 20,000
participants over two days.

My training for this event was minimal. I felt I was in
pretty good shape as a distance runner and I could do a couple chin ups and plenty
of sit ups and push-ups. In hind sight, I wish I had done a lot more strength
work needed to climb over high walls and pull myself up out of a dumpster (see
Arctic Enema description below). Tough Mudder is all about team work so you can
make it through all the obstacles, but strength training would have minimized
the pain and soreness I had for a couple of days after the event.

We arrived at the site, Michigan International Speedway, all
dressed in similar uniforms of white tech shirt, black shorts, and pink knee
socks. We named our team White Collar Mudders and planned to wear white dress
shirts with the sleeves ripped off but compromised on white tech shirts to
avoid chafing. Lisa and Renae chose the pink knee socks and we got plenty of
comments from the crowd. After the second obstacle it was hard to tell we wore
white and pink.

The start is divided up in waves that are assigned by
request rather than by projected finish times. To start, you must first climb
over a 7 foot wall and drop into the starting pen that holds about 200. The MC
mingles in the crowd and pumps everyone up with a bunch of “Hoo-rah’s” and
reminds us that it’s all about team work. On most obstacles, someone will help
you up and over or pull you out, you then turn around and do the same for the
person behind you. The MC had us take a knee and thanked us for supporting the
Wounded Warrior Project by participating. He then asked any military personnel to
stand up and the applause was awesome. An orange smoke grenade obscured the
first few feet of the course as we stood and sing the National Anthem. One more
quick, mosh-pit pump up from the MC, then 5-4-3-2-1 and the gun went off.

The running was mostly flat on open grass and lots of
trampled mud and standing water from the rain. The crowd ran rather slowly to
the first obstacle, a 10 foot wall that leans toward you, making it more
difficult to climb over. On our way to obstacle #2, a 50 foot belly crawl
through wet, sloppy mud, we could see the Arctic Enema ahead. But first we had to
leap over a line of open flame into a pit of waist-deep water.

The Arctic Enema does not disappoint. It’s a 30 cubic yard
dumpster typically used for construction debris. Today it is half full of water
and half full of ice cubes with a divider midway across that extends about 6
inches into the frigid water. The object is to jump in, go under the divider
and climb out the other side. We climbed up the approach ramp and jumped in. I
was ready for the cold, so it was not surprising but it has an exponential
cumulative effect. You do not want to linger. I had to go under twice because I
thought the divider was much lower and it was difficult to propel myself amongst
ice cubes. When you surfaced it's a bit disorienting and you usually need
someone to help pull you out since the dumpster is about 6 feet deep. Once out
of the ice you turn around and help the person behind you.

I won’t describe all 20 obstacles. You can easily find descriptions
on-line [http://toughmudder.com/obstacles/ ], but I will tell you about some of the more memorable ones. We had to
wade out into chest deep water that was unusually warm, looked like Yoohoo and
smelled a little funky. While crossing the pond we had to submerge under three
sets of barrels along the way. On Walk the Plank we climbed up a tall platform
and jumped 15 feet down into deep water.Trench Warfare made me feel like a mole. We climbed down into a hole
in the ground and belly crawled through a very dark, curvy tunnel until coming
back up out of a hole about 50 feet away. At this point in the race it was
pouring rain so hard that it was difficult to see other areas of the course.

As we made our way to Electric Eel we were secretly hoping
for thunder so they might close the water obstacles on the course. The heavy
rain persisted but no lightning or thunder so we got to experience the Electric
Eel. It’s another belly crawl through muddy water under a large array of
electrical wires that randomly zap you. I thought if I stayed low enough I
could avoid the wires, but I was wrong. I saw one wire light up right in front
of my eyes as I was crawling through as quickly and lowly as I could. I got
zapped once and it snapped my jaw shut and felt like someone hit my shoulder
with a bat. I was really dreading this obstacle, but I made it through mostly
unscathed and happy I accomplished it.

One of the most difficult obstacles for me was Berlin Walls.
It consists of two 12 foot walls that we had to climb over. Nearly everyone
requires the help of the person behind them to boost them up to grab the top of
the wall. Then you have to pull yourself up and over the wall and drop several
feet to the ground. Then you have to do it all again 30 feet later. The walls
are made of 2x12 planks and were wet and gritty from the coarse sand that
pervaded nearly every obstacle.

Everest was the second to last obstacle, and it was the most
fun to watch. We had to get a running start in the wet sloppy mud and propel
ourselves up a slippery quarter pipe ramp onto the deck above. Team work was
necessary for the vast majority of runners. Before you start your approach you
need to make eye contact with someone who is waiting on the deck. They are
lying down on the deck extending their arms down from the edge for you to grab
onto. If you’re fast enough and strong enough you can make it just far enough
up the ramp to lunge forward and catch their awaiting hands; then you struggle
up the slippery ramp onto the deck and return the favor to the person behind
you.

The last obstacle is a sprint through a dense gauntlet of
electrical wires. This obstacle is delightfully called Electroshock Therapy. To
make it just a little more interesting the ground is made uneven with muddy
hills and ruts filled with water. I managed to make it through without getting
zapped, but many others were not so lucky. In most cases when a runner gets
zapped it contracts their muscles so violently that they fall uncontrollably to
the ground. I panicked for a second when I got tangled up in the dangling wires, but I had enough momentum to force my way through and was somewhat thankful
that I never felt a zap.

After crossing the Finish line, we received our orange Tough
Mudder finisher head band and a complimentary beer. We then headed back to entertain
ourselves by watching runners attempting Everest and Electroshock Therapy. By
this time the rain had completely dissipated leaving ankle deep water all over.
I’m sure the spectators enjoyed that.

Everyone on our team made it through and can now officially
call themselves Tough Mudders. I scraped up my knees and elbows quite a bit, and
my triceps and deltoids were really sore for a couple days. Next year, if the
temperature allows, I plan to wear running tights and a long sleeve tech shirt
to protect my knees and elbows a little more. The entire team had a great time
and we all plan to return next year and maybe we will even recruit a few more
team mates.

Geoff's report definitely makes this sound like a bunch of fun -- except for the ice water and electric shocks. I don't know. I am still not quite convinced. Or maybe I am just way wimpier than this group of very Tough Mudders.

So, as a first timer here I wanted to say that your site is completely superb! We’re interested in starting a volunteer community initiative in this niche. The tips on your blog were extremely helpful to us, as it gave us something to work on and i always loves to take part in Obstacle Run.